DRAMATIS PERSONE.

ORSINO, Duke of Illyria.

SEBASTIAN, Brother to Viola.

ANTONIO, a Sea-Captain, Friend to Sebastian.
A Sea-Captain, Friend to Viola.

VALENTINE,

CURIO,

} Gentlemen attending on the Duke.

Sir TOBY BELCH, Uncle to Olivia.
Sir ANDREW AGUE-CHEEK.

MALVOLIO, Steward to Olivia.

Lords, Priests, Officers, Sailors, Musicians, and Attendants.

SCENE: A City in Illyria; and the Sea-Coast near it.

TWELFTH NIGHT; OR, WHAT

YOU WILL.

ACT I.

SCENE I.- An Apartment in the DUKE's Palace.

Enter DUKE, CURIO, Lords; Musicians attending.

DUKE.

F music be the food of love, play on;

If music be the fort, that, susciting,

The appetite may sicken, and so die.

That strain again;

O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet sound

That breathes upon a bank of violets,

Stealing and giving odour.

- Enough! no more;

'Tis not so sweet now as it was before.

O spirit of love! how quick and fresh art thou,

That, notwithstanding thy capacity

Receiveth as the sea, nought enters there,

Of what validity and pitch soe'er,

But falls into abatement and low price,

Even in a minute!

So full of shapes is fancy,

That it alone is high-fantastical.

Curio. Will you go hunt, my lord?

Duke.

Cur.

What, Curio ?

The hart.

Duke. Why, so I do, the noblest that I have:

O, when mine eyes did see Olivia first,
Methought she purg'd the air of pestilence:
That instant was I turn'd into a hart,

How now? what news from

And my desires, like fell and cruel hounds,
E'er since pursue me.
her?

Valentine.

mitted,

Enter VALENTINE.

So please my lord, I might not be ad

But from her handmaid do return this answer:
The element itself, till seven years' heat,
Shall not behold her face at ample view;
But, like a cloistress, she will veiled walk,
And water once a day her chamber round
With eye-offending brine: all this, to season
A brother's dead love, which she would keep fresh
And lasting in her sad remembrance.

Duke. O, she that hath a heart of that fine frame,

To pay this debt of love but to a brother,
How will she love, when the rich golden shaft
Hath kill'd the flock of all affections else

That live in her! when liver, brain, and heart,
Those sovereign thrones, are all suppli'd and fill'd, -
Her sweet perfections, - with one self king!
Away before me to sweet beds of flowers;
Love-thoughts lie rich, when canopi'd with bowers.

[Exeunt.

SC. II.

TWELFTH NIGHT.

157

SCENE II.

The Sea-coast.

Enter VIOLA, Captain, and Sailors. Viola. What country, friends, is this? Captain.

This is Illyria, lady.

What think you,

Vio. And what should I do in Illyria?
My brother he is in Elysium.
Perchance he is not drown'd:

sailors?

Cap. It is perchance that you yourself were sav'd. Vio. O my poor brother! and so, perchance, may he be.

Cap. True, madam ; and to comfort you with chance,

Assure yourself, after our ship did split,

When you, and those poor number saved with you, Hung on our driving boat, I saw your brother, Most provident in peril, bind himself

(Courage and hope both teaching him the practice)
To a strong mast, that liv'd upon the sea;
Where, like Arion on the dolphin's back,

I saw him hold acquaintance with the waves,
So long as I could see.

Vio. For saying so, there's gold:

Mine own escape unfoldeth to my hope,
Whereto thy speech serves for authority,

The like of him. Know'st thou this country?
Cap. Ay, madam, well; for I was bred and born

Not three hours' travel from this very place.

Vio. Who governs here?

Cap. A noble duke, in nature as in name.
Vio. What is his name?

Cap. Orsino.

Vio. Orsino! I have heard my father name him: He was a bachelor then.

Cap. And so is now, or was so very late: For but a month ago I went from hence, And then 'twas fresh in murmur, (as, you know, What great ones do, the less will prattle of,) That he did seek the love of fair Olivia.

Vio. What's she?

Cap. A virtuous maid, the daughter of a count That died some twelvemonth since; then leaving her In the protection of his son, her brother, Who shortly also di'd: for whose dear love, They say, she hath abjur'd the company And sight of men.

Vio.
And might not be delivered to the world,
Till I had made mine own occasion mellow
What my estate is!

O that I serv'd that lady,

Cap.

That were hard to compass,

Because she will admit no kind of suit;

No, not the Duke's.

Vio. There is a fair behaviour in thee, Captain; And though that Nature with a beauteous wall Doth oft close in pollution, yet of thee

I will believe thou hast a mind that suits
With this thy fair and outward character.
I pr'ythee, and I'll pay thee bounteously,—
Conceal me what I am; and be my aid
For such disguise as, haply, shall become
The form of my intent. I'll serve this Duke:
Thou shalt present me as an eunuch to him.
It may be worth thy pains; for I can sing,
And speak to him in many sorts of music,
That will allow me very worth his service.